Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

Originally Posted by Split-N

USA Hockey in recent years has had a pronounced bias toward NCAA players, as opposed to major junior and minor league pro players, for the various high-level international tournaments. And I don't expect this to change since Tony Granato (Wisconsin) is also HC of Team USA. Canada typically tends to the opposite. No surprises here--just a reflection of different national development tracks.

Canada is going to give Sikura what amounts to an audition in an international tournament in Finland in early November. If they like what they see, he may play in other international tournaments in December and January. Same for Gaudette, although nothing about international play has been announced by USA Hockey AFAIK. Performances in the workup tournaments have a big bearing on who gets invited to the pre-Olympic training camps, which open in early January. Especially for the bubble players.

The actual Olympic hockey tournament takes up almost all of February.

There are more of them? I know they don't care about how the players' teams perform without them but at what point is it unfair to the students' educations?

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

Originally Posted by njdevscup30

There are more of them? I know they don't care about how the players' teams perform without them but at what point is it unfair to the students' educations?

Back in the day when the Olympic teams were primarily college players, training camp started in the Fall so college players invited to the pre-Olympic camp essentially gave up a year of school. Many of the early cuts were able to return to their college teams but those who were serious contenders for a spot were gone for the year and relatively few returned to their college teams. How the US and Canada are going to approach things this year is something of a blank slate since they probably don't want to disrupt the minor league pros any more than they have to (after all, $$$ is involved) but since pre-Olympic camps apparently aren't going to open until Jan., there aren't many options for evaluating potential Olympic players against international competition without playing them in some of the pre-Olympic international tournaments.

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

...Looking towards tonight's game, Ruck in net 21/28/17, 9/8/15, 19/7/25, 26/27/23. This seems like the deepest lineup we've thrown out there so far in my opinion out of the small sample size.

Color me a big fan of 17 lining up with 21 and 28, and 15 lining up with 8 and 9. Beyond that, I still don't get the apparent love affairs with 25 & 26 (though admittedly I don't see what happens in practice or behind the scenes). Beyond that, 27 has shown he can win a few faceoffs, which is a good thing. Kind of surprised 12 and 13 are apparently on the outs.

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

not sure if it is a fitness issue.. but been all UML last 12 mins.. Huskies just sucking wind most of the 3rd actually.

Ugly gm.. nonetheless, a big W on the road against a strong opponent. Good start to HE play. Thank god for the PP tonight.

Not an issue of fitness at all. It was an issue of desperation on the part of Lowell's. They were trying to avoid a shutout at the very least. I wonder if the player who scored for them ever saw the puck go into the net. It was a nice shot that came off his stick quickly as he faced away from the net.

Our coaches were very hard on the team in practice this week. As a result they were well prepared. Now it's Lowell's burden to turn things around tomorrow night. We'll have to be even sharper to manage a sweep.

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

Originally Posted by northeastern

and in true NU fashion.. we are sleepwalking right now..

I can't agree with this at all. They got the 3-goal lead, then went into "protection mode," which they executed fairly well. Notwithstanding the one UML goal that was through a screen and a possible second saved by a Dman's skate, NU by and large kept UML on the perimeter. Really, UML didn't pose that much of a threat.

If I have a complaint, it's not on the defensive side of things. OTOH, 17 and 28 need to shed their invisibility cloaks.

Not taking anything away from a hard road W.. the Huskies were back on their heels for much of the 3rd. We really werent a threat at all in their zone the entire last period.. so much so that Madigan had to take a timeout (good timing).

We gotta win the 3rd periods this season to be a good team against solid competition.

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

i thought this was the best game defensively of the season. The defense was clearing rebounds (not that there were many), they were standing players up at the blue line, poking the puck off a rushing Riverhawk stick through the neutral zone and at the blue line, breaking the puck out well. I'm not a fan of the "dump the puck always" strategy in the third, but when up 3-0 I can't blame them for playing conservative. We all want them to STEP ON THE THROAT but in reality there is no pressing need to.

Penalty kill was solid. Lowell has a good unit (20% going into today), so they will get their looks and chances. We stifled them when they got something going. From the setup to the execution, liked what I saw on the PK.

"Getting outplayed in the third" can really be attributed to score effects and desperation by Lowell to try and maintain offensive pressure. I don't think many teams would outplay Lowell in the third period when up 3-0. Most teams will likely play the way we did, I'd wager. When a team is losing they'll naturally be pressing and firing more on net in the later parts of the game. Just what to expect. NU dominated the neutral zone and offensive zone time for 2.5 periods. I really liked what I saw.

Cecere, Cockerill, Davies all had standout games on defense for me. Ruck was sound and solid. Gaudette, Sikura, Picking stood out among the forwards, succeeding in their respective roles. The Solow line was invisible to me offensively. Some guys just seemed timid to shoot the puck, not sure why or if I'm alone in that perception, but I want to see more from 21-28-17 tomorrow.

HUGE first win of the year. Sets a tone, sends a message. First time NU opens with a Hockey East win since 2012. Madigan gets to 100 career wins. Good stuff.

also, hoping the refs can call some of the cheap shots (away from the puck).. on Sikura & Gaudette. Happened all gm Fri. Especially on Sikura, & also on Stevens to an extent. They (refs) let a lot go. Hoping they are better on top of things Saturday.. as is the team.

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

Originally Posted by Roll_Dawgs

13 in for 23 tonight. Let's take two here!

That's an...interesting switch.

I seriously wonder why Lerario keeps getting dressed. He gets maybe 5 shifts in the game from what I can tell/notice, why not play someone who would be more used over the full 60 minutes? Schultz at least has wheels that can be valuable.

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2017-18: Every Dog Has its Day

Originally Posted by NU_Husky

That's an...interesting switch.

I seriously wonder why Lerario keeps getting dressed. He gets maybe 5 shifts in the game from what I can tell/notice, why not play someone who would be more used over the full 60 minutes? Schultz at least has wheels that can be valuable.

I seriously wonder why Lerario keeps getting dressed. He gets maybe 5 shifts in the game from what I can tell/notice, why not play someone who would be more used over the full 60 minutes? Schultz at least has wheels that can be valuable.

I like Schultz and I agree he skates and playmakes pretty well. He's looked the best of the non-Solow freshman forwards IMO